A book is a collection of paper pages with printed words on them that are fastened together and fixed inside a cover of stronger paper or cardboard. Books can contain information, stories or poetry. Books are used for education, research or pleasure reading. Some books are considered classics and have a profound impact on society. Some are thought-provoking, others rouse creative revolutions, and still others take readers to dystopian worlds or to the end of the universe.
The history of the book is an academic discipline that incorporates contributions from textual scholarship, codicology, bibliography, palaeography and other disciplines. It reveals the ways in which readers interacted with words and how the physical form of a book influenced what was written within it. The history of the book also demonstrates how books and writing developed, and how they shaped social and cultural history.
From the earliest clay tablets to the latest e-reader, the word “book” has evolved with technological advancements. The most important development in the history of books was the invention of printing, which revolutionized literacy and culture. The invention of the press made it possible to reproduce a large number of books in a short period of time, and to use uniform graphic design and new conventional patterns. These developments transformed manuscripts into books and changed the way people viewed the world around them.
There are countless books that have been read and enjoyed over the years. Some are timeless and transcend all genres, like the Bible, the Quran and the Torah. Others are more specific and focus on one topic area, such as a chemistry textbook or a biography of a famous politician. Some are meant to be sentimental, like a collection of poems by Felicia Hemans, which one library worker at the University of Virginia found used as a memorial to her seven-year-old daughter who died.
Some books are written to entertain, such as children’s picture or storybooks. Others are used for recording daily activities, such as diaries or appointment books. A book may be filled with drawings, engravings, photographs or puzzles. It may also be left empty for writing and drawing, as in sketchbooks or account books.
Many different materials have been used to make books throughout the ages, including papyrus (made by weaving inner stems of the plant) and parchment or vellum, which are made from very thin animal skin. Until the invention of printing, books were hand-written or written on paper that had been sewed together. The book was turned into a modern industrial product in several stages, and it required many inventions to evolve from its original form as a scroll. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series is a notable example of this evolution, as it defies traditional categories and blends elements of fantasy, science fiction and horror. The series follows Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger on a quest to reach the eponymous Dark Tower. This epic tale is a testament to King’s storytelling abilities, and demonstrates how he is able to pull from multiple genres to create something unique and compelling.